Georgia Trumps LSU in Top Ten Showdown

Aaron Murray tossed four TDs against LSU, knocking off a top ten foe and inching Georgia closer to a BCS bid in 2013.

The Georgia Bulldogs football team may have lost its last top ten battle against Clemson to open the season, but since then it has looked every bit the part of a BCS National Championship contender. On Saturday, Georgia took another step towards accomplishing that goal by knocking off the LSU Tigers in a back and forth battle.

Both teams exchanged punches throughout the contest, with Georgia ultimately scoring the final knockout blow to defeat the sixth ranked Tigers by a score of 44-41.

Coming into the contest ranked number 8, Georgia will certainly jump further up the rankings when they are announced on Monday given the fact that LSU entered Saturday’s contest ranked number 6.

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray was able to trump his former roommate Zach Mettenberger, who quarterbacks LSU, in Saturday’s shootout. A long drive by Mettenberger put the Tigers up with just over 4 minutes to go made it look like LSU would score the victory in enemy territory, but it was Murray who would drive his team down the field for a late 25 yard touchdown pass to steal the win.

A satisfying victory for Murray, who is a fifth year senior, he heaved the ball towards the Georgia student section after kneeling down around midfield with the game in hand. Passing for 298 yards by completing 20-34 attempts, Murray also tossed for four touchdowns and added another on the ground.

Murray finally scored a big win, something he has been criticized for during his career. Home is a good place to get the job done, and Georgia has now won 15 straight in its own facility.

That loss to Clemson mentioned in the opening paragraph is beginning to look a lot more forgivable considering the fact that Clemson is another title contender who finds itself well within the top five at number 3.

Strength of schedule is certainly there for Georgia, who completed a month in which they squared off against three top ten opponents to begin the year. Taking two out of three games against the very best possible competition is huge, and will go a long way in where they find themselves ranked at the end of the year.

Georgia receiver Justin Scott-Wesley made that very point in his post-game interview. “We’ve played some hard teams,” he said. “It just shows we’re a great team. We can handle anything anybody throws at us.”

A one loss season paired with an SEC title is a good recipe for a BCS bid, and a National Championship would not be out of the question should Georgia run the table the rest of the season. Defeating LSU was perhaps their last major challenge of the year. The only opponent left on the Bulldogs’ schedule that is currently ranked is number 20 Florida.